16-Year-Old High School Football Player Charged With Beating Mom To Death With A Hammer

A Maryland teenager is accused of beating his own mother to death with a hammer last week. Andrew Zaragoza, 16, has been charged as an adult for the bludgeoning death of his mom, 56-year-old Donna Zaragoza, according to The Baltimore Sun. Her body was found in a bedroom of the family’s Bel Air, Maryland house.

The high school student, known for playing football, was allegedly hit by his mother the morning of the murder, according to Zaragoza’s lawyer, public defender Tim Bahr. She allegedly took pills before striking her son. Zaragoza’s father and uncle both died of drug overdoses last year.

“He is a victim of abuse throughout his life, mental abuse, emotional abuse and physical abuse,” Bahr said before a judge on Saturday.